Free Political Speech

Two high-profile notaries (if there is such a thing) have recently had their commissions revoked in Pennsylvania. Continue reading →

The home page of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania is currently trumpeting “New Supreme Court Rules Direct Funds to Civil Legal Aid for the Indigent.”  It has no mention of the recent indictment of Supreme Court Justice and “woman of faith” Joan Orie Melvin. Continue reading →

Innumerable campaign finance reports list “consulting fees” among their expenses.

In many cases, these are payments to ward leaders or other community leaders that help ensure that they will support the candidate in question.  While perfectly legal in most cases, it indicates that our democratic process may be bought and sold at a very minute level.

Occasionally, an incumbent politician will give consulting fees to family members or members of his/her staff.  Why does this occur? Continue reading →

As a public service, I recently ran the name Michael Karloutsos through the city and state campaign finance data I maintain on my server for both the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Karloutsos owns the Water Works Restaurant and Lounge, and according to published reports, has not been paying his fair share of utilities to the city.

The following is a summary of all contributions found by Karloutsos to all political entities listed: Continue reading →

The campaign finance committee for convicted felon Vince Fumo is still operating.  According to published reports, it is chaired by Andrew A. Cosenza, a Mt. Laurel, NJ businessman.  Its treasurer is Dominick Cosenza.

Vincent Fumo for Senate filed only one report in 2011, a cycle 7 annual report.  The opening balance of the report was $286,181.50.  It received no contributions (perhaps because Fumo can deliver no favors from jail.)  Expenditures were listed as $30,200.00.  The ending balance was $255,981.50.

The committee gave $20,200.00 in two contributions to Pennsylvanians for Good Government early in the year.  It also gave $10,000.00 to Neighbors to Reelect DiCicco.

The Commonwealth Campaign Finance Online Reporting search page shows the reports for Pennsylvanians for Good Government to be incomplete.  I’ll keep you posted as I know more.

Former Philadelphia Housing Director and former Candidate for Sheriff John Kromer and I watched three Democratic statehouse primary races carefully — Assembly districts 182, 188, and 195.  In all three races, the incumbent had a credible challenger.

You can read our analysis here:

Democratic Primary, Assembly District 182

Democratic Primary, Assembly District 188

Democratic Primary, Assembly District 195

(Maps are taken from PDFs on the Committee of Seventy’s website)

There’s something strange about 1st District Sen. Larry Farnese’s campaign finance reports.

I recently reviewed five lines on the cover page of each report provided by the Department of State’s website, along with the same reports found on the Philadelphia City Board of Ethics website.  These lines are as follows:

A. Amount Brought Forward From Last Report
B. Total Monetary Contributions and Receipts (From Schedule I)
C. Total Funds Available (Sum of Lines A and B)
D. Total Expenditures (From Schedule III)
E. Ending Cash Balance (Subtract Line D From Line C)

Reports need to balance, and what’s more, they need to balance over time.  For example, if your first campaign finance report ends with a balance of $10,000, your next report must start with a balance of $10,000 — no more, no less.  If your second report ends with a balance of $20,000, your third report must start with that same $20,000.  If your third report ends with a balance of $30,000, your fourth report must start with $30,000.  And so on.  It’s a lot like balancing your checkbook month after month.

Apparently, Team Farnese never got the memo. Continue reading →

Some time ago, I began searching for campaign finance documents related to sitting supreme court justices.  Oddly enough, I could not locate this information on the Pennsylvania Department of State Campaign Finance Online Filing website.  I expanded my search, and found a raft of things missing.

Before I go any further, a word about campaign finance in Pennsylvania — candidates are required to file campaign finance reports, or at least campaign finance statements, with the Department of State during an election year.  In addition, if the candidate has designated a committee that is raising and spending money on his or her behalf, the committee must file at certain intervals as well.  In these cases, it was mainly the candidate campaign finance information that was missing. Continue reading →

As a public service, I ran the name “Lichtenstein” through the database of city and state contributors that I maintain on an SQL Server platform.  As you may recall, the Lichtenstein brothers — Yechiel, Michael, and Nahman — control the company that owns the former Thomas W. Buck Hosiery factory in Kensington.  Two firefighters died there recently after a blaze. Continue reading →

Students First PAC has filed two reports with the Philadelphia City Board of Ethics.

The first shows one contribution, and one contribution only — $1,000,000.00 during 2012 cycle1 on 2/21/12 from American Federation for Children, a Washington, DC group that supports school choice.  The group has funded Students First PAC before.  Continue reading →